In the reading Building on Disappearance: Hong Kong Architecture and Colonial Space, the author discusses how the architecture in Hong Kong shows the culture of disappearance. It is hyperdensity and the constant building and rebuilding that lead to a loss of identity. Architecture becomes anonymous, stuck between merely local and placeless.
Although the reading focuses mainly on Hong Kong, from my perspective, building on disappearance is a global issue. A loss of identity may be particularly outstanding in Hong Kong, but it is happening all over the world. Architecture represents the most obvious symptom.
What does it mean by building on disappearance? Based on my understanding, it is a loss of identity in architecture. Looking back to thousands of years age, there is a strong identity represented in architecture —- Pyramid in Egypt, Parthenon in Greece, Garden in China and so on. Architecture in the history has a clear identity. If we look at today’s architecture around the world: skyscrapers with glass and steel, residential units made from concrete, office tower with modularized rooms.
With globalization, most of the cities in the world face the problem of a loss of identity. A fusion between the traditional and modern has so long been a hot topic in architecture. However, it seems to be a failed attempt. The power of globalization is so strong that cities all around the world are kind of willing to lose their own identity to meet the need of being global.
Hong Kong might be a typical representative, but all those problems mentioned in the reading about building on disappearance have an omen in cities around the world. Architecture is faced with a revolution and we have to keep a watchful eye on it.
By Guo Yuhui (3035533874)